Shoe stretcher



June .3,1930Q E G. B. FITZ 1,761,012

SHOE STRETCHER Filed om..l 14, 192e Patented June 3, :1930

un, AssIGNoR To" F'ITZEEMPIRE noUBpE PivorrAsr f1 l* GUY B. FI'rz, or AUBURN, ivi-Av COMPANY, or, AUBUNfM'AIN-E, A'QORPQRATI'ON .0F- MMNE i i This'invention relates todevices'foruse in f stretching boots or shoes and.A is herein illustrated as embodied in a'stretcher of similarjcharacter nto that disclosed in United*v States Letters Patent' No. 232,478-, `granted Sept. 21, Fay.

It is customary in shoe stretchers vorganized asset forthV in said Letters Patentto provide anexpansible forepart'comprising a plurality of movable side sections' and atog`- gle` mechanism for impartinglateral move'- ieso, upon appli-catimini F. A.

ment to the side sections. If'lhe yside sectionsy are generally long enough to extendback into-the instep of the sh0e, a'nd there often is no heel part.

, A sc a'lled instep isvalsoi'ofteny provided, as disclosed .in theLetters ylfatent cited, Alying abovethefexp ansible forepait and movable Vupwardly for'th'e'purpos'e of'eXert-k ing stretchingpressure directly against the throat oi' the instep portion of the Ys hoefin"`0r der to distribute `and equalize the stretching pressure; it'having been found that the mere lateral separation of theforepart 'members may unduly -V stretch and even Vdamage the throat'of V the shoe, at Which lOQalityitsgirth is,l east, irrespective ofwhether it is this part that, 'itisdesired Yto stretch. j In all such devices having instep members, sofar as I' am aqvare,` the instep 'member has been pivotally securedat one' extremity either to themembers comprising 'the eXpansible forepart or to the mechanism V4forexi ipandi'n'g thefforepart, and itsoppOSiteeX 'tremity has beenfarranged toA be 'engagedby themechanism'forfpivotally raising and loW- ering themember.v As a'resultthereof,` the instep engaging member has alwayshad'the 40 same type.' of vmovement irrespective "of jthe shape" of the '.shoefbeing operated on,;"an`d` yfrequently goverstretched or tore one' zpart of the shoe before some' .otherpart was stretched:adequately,for.at 'all'.` The .present inventi ngcor'rects this difiicu'l'- ty lby Providing a; shoefstretcher in WhichY the instep-engaging member is mounted in such amanner that'it isfree tofloator tilt about an axis `located substantiallycentrally ofu its length. `Thus, themember may tilt expandingmechanism.

eadjuaesftfssiun ,ae-@ariege attrape f of the'instepportion which itr engages, theref byaccommodating itself readily to distribute the pressure evenly o ver'the instep.,

Thisjand other features ,of theV lnvention, l 1 inclu dingcertain details ofcon'structionsfand signedl to show therelative movements im-y parti-dto the'vrills ,parte `f fhejexpandins mechanism upon 'actuationjof thelatter.

dtald perspective View Showingthe ,under side of the insteptngaging membenandrig-.5t is a viewjinfside @station Showing another embodiment of theinvention.V Referring tothe drawings, the expansible Plenvew 0f the,deviceA ,Shown forepart'of the illustrated shoe stretcher is 'indicated generally at' 10 and comprises a plu'- rality ofside sections 12 pivoted together at their rearextremities by means of ahingelfi. The inneroppo'sing faces 1 6 of I.the side sec- Y tio`ns 12A are, as illustrated,preferablyfflat and `adapted' to abut when theforepart is'reduced to' its narrovvest" Width. Y

Vfaces of thefside'sections 12 are' formed 'with cavities 18 (Fig.v 3) Afor receivingfal toggle .m'e chanism comprisingA a block 2(0 to which are .pivoted the inner eX- The 'nner flatl i The toggle mechanism maybe actuated'to 'eifect expansion orcontra'ction ofthe forepart 10,jby means including an' operating member V24' which has' .screwlthreaded Vengagement withatrunnionblock 26,l Theinner Het' faces vtremitie's of ajpluralityfof links 22having i their outer extremities'pivotally secured to `the'side sections'12.' l

Yvfention, Vi

three' 16 ofthe side members are recessed to accommodate the member 24, and pivotally to hold trunnions 28 carried by the trunnion block 26. Thus rotation of the member 24 in one direction imparts forward longitudinal movement to the toggle blocl 20, to cause spreading of kthe llinks 22 and separation'oi the side sections 12, whereas rotation of the member 24 in the reverse direction causes the bleclil 20 to 4moverearwardly to draw in `the leke22`eed eellepee the ,fereeert lil- The upper surface of the orepart 10 has a recess at 30. An instep-engaging member 32 is adapted to be seatedwithin said recess when the forepart member is collapsed, and is Se. gleaned that Wheeee seated its iep eerfeee formsa' smooth continuation of the surface ei the ferenerftA memeer- AS Shewl :ie Eig 5., the instepeegegeg blocl; `3,2 is' mounted for pivotal movement eren` wie. .3.4 which extends laterally ef. .the bleek.` Substantially Centrally ef ite length- The pi1i34 pivoted to corresponding e;- tremit'ies'of a plurality of links 36, the other extremitiesv of which links are pivotally con`- eeeterl et Y3.8. te the teggle bleek. 20

In the embodiment of the invention shown Figs. l to i5., inclusive, the llinks 36 are secured to the block 20 immediately in the rear 1ef .the toggle links 22. Thus i@ will 'be .eeen (Fig.- e') tha when .the ieg-gie. links 22 are .Spread .apart they will engage the lieke ebetweee their ende thereby imparting ee ward movement to the 111313.91 ends of the links ,3.6 and .eeeeeeeeely vtle' the. instep-engaging block 32,. the other hand, when the links 22 eee being drawn .wget-ller, the bleek 32Y ie free te deeeeeel under gravity er pressure from .the shoe upper into the recess formed in the iforepart 1.0iy It is also pointed out that als Athe forepart 'isexpa'nded .and theiinstep engaging member is swung upwardly the y ieggle 'bleek 20.1ieeveS-fe1warflly, and the declosed yconstruction is `such. that, .this forward meyexiieet takes, Pleeg faster than the .com- Peeelet ef Pvetal, meV-ement ef the instep- `eiig'agieg member tewards the rear ef the ferepert; Aeeelfelegla eeen expeneee ef the lier-epeet1 the. ieeteie bleek eleves` ferri/eel ly `as :Well ,asupwardly relatively to the forenarli', fille-S, 'being peelied ieee .the shee and thereby readily @Gemelle-dating itself te the contour thereof, siiicef-it will settle more -icadilyinto its naturall position under Vthe fconsiderable friction presen-t, if Ii12 is acted len, .by etree'eee 11.1. varies .direetllelle- .lathe embedleeet ei` thet liliyentee illustrete@ 'le .Fig e, elle 'lieke are Pivetellyee eiieltee piei-eetien eel'ferieed on .the eener surface of the toggle block; 2Q., In expanding .the eiepalt ef .this embodiment the, in-

' evergremeveuleet imparted te'. the lele.el.i..2Q1feselte 'in .dL-ieeet eriyael emilie' @imparted 15e thefinstei? bleek le ille luike 3e, and. the ier-Weidnerjustment of the member 24 a limited range of tilting movement of Athe instep member may be produced by unbalanced'pressure of the shoe vupper onl its front or back portions. ThUSin' both eases, the block may tilt forwardly or rearwardly to adjust its position according to the shape of the instep portion oi the shoe which it engages, and thus avoid undue stretching or damage at any one locality.

1 should be noticed, also, that the instep bleek ie .meunted iedepeeeleetly ef the fel-epart, being carried solelyv by the forep'art eX- 'pendng means. l Having fully'A described my invention, what l. elaine las' new and desire te seeereley Lettere Patent e the United, States ier j i. A shoe stretcher, having, in combinatien, en expa-esible ferepart having @We Seperable sections, amem'be'r located between the Seeeeee and. arranged te Seperate there, eed meten-engaging membemeunteel en Said inembell.

vShee Siretelier,` having in combinaiiele., expenfelele feliepert., means leeated the ball portion of said orepartr to expand said ferepert, enel. en instep bleek .carried Sele'ly 'by eeiel.' rr1..eei1el` devieeol the ehareeter deeerbed lleveg., in .eemie'iHaelena an. expansible' ferepart having laterally .separable sections, expand-V mechanism loctedwithin said orepart and arranged to press said sections apart, and an instep-engaging member pivotally secured to said expanding mechanism.

4. In .a shoefstlretching device, a forepart comprising a plurality of vside sections, a toggle mechanism for imparting meYement to said side sections, .and an instep block pivotally ysecured to lsaid toggle mechanism.

5..AV shoe stretcher, having in combination, an expansible forepart, mechanism located inthe ball portion of .the orepart for `egl'aaiifl,ing said .forepefh and Van instep-engaging member C'lilied by said expanding mechanism, said mechanism being c011- structed and .arranged to permit movement .ef .elle instep-.engaging member relatively te ,Said orepart upon expansion of the latter. `6. .A device o'the-charaeter .described havegi .eembeetiee, e felepafrt termed with e .recess its Aupper seriele@ en instep-eeige the ball portion of the forepart, and means for actuating said member tolift the instepengaging block. V

,7. In a shoe-stretching device, V'a plurality of pivotally mounted side sections having a recess formed in their upper surfaces,y an instep block mounted within said recess, and

a toggle mechanism pivotally secured to each Y v t Y l vapplying pressure to the-instep .portion of Y of said side sections and to the instep block and arranged to be actuated to cause separation between each of said side sections and the instep block. 'l n 8. A device of the character described having, in combination, a forepart comprising a plurality of side sections, an expanding mechanism including a toggle block anda plurality of links connecting the toggle block to said side sections, and an instep-engaging member, said `linksserving as cams for 1mparting member.

' 9. A'device of the'character describedhaving, in combination, a forepart comprising a part, and links connecting the instep-engaging member with the toggle `mechanism in sucha manner that movement imparted to movement to said instep-*engaging*l vname to this specification. Y

' f bGUY B. FITZ. 's -v 14. A shoe stretching device of the character described, having, in combination, an

expansible forepart, a pivotally` mounted in-. 1

step-engaging member, and means for eX- panding said forepart, constructed andarranged to impartl forward movement to said instep-'engaging member relatively to said forepart, when operated to expand the forepart. Y t Y 15. A shoe stretching device, having 1n combination, a member for engagmg and a shoe, an expansible forepart, and a mechap nism for expanding said forepart, the fore- `part acting as va cam to impart elevational in" imparting elevational movement to said instep member.

In testimonyfwhereof I have signed myk the toggle mechanism yresults inmovement impartedto the instep-engaging member.

10. A device of the character described having, in combination, an expansible fore-v part, yand an instep-engaging member mounted for tiltingmovement about anaxis f located substantially centrally of the length of the instep-engaging member.

1l. A shoe form comprising a plurality of side sections mounted for movement relalength thereof.

tively to each other, andV an vinstep'engaging v block mounted for free tilting movement about alaterally extending axis located substantially centrally of the length of the instep block. i

12. A device of the character described` having, in combination, an expansible Vforewithin said recess and pivotally connected to Vexpand the forepart invsuch a manner that y the forward part of the recess acts as a cam icol the expansible forepart member, and means i n for varyingthe location ofv thepivotal axis of the instep-engaging memberrelatively tok the forepart. s l l v j 

